Facilitator: Mike Alves
Grade Level: GISD, Secondary, District-Wide
Attendees: All Members of Literatetech

Members:

M E Alves, ESL IST, Jackson Technology Center
G R Alvarado, ESL IST, Coyle Middle School
C A Vornberg, ESL IST, Garland High School
B Hood, ESL IST, South Garland High School
P S Callegari, ESL IST, North Garland High School

K Carzola, ESL Teacher, Jackson Technology Center

J D Benavides, EST IST, Brandenburg Classical Academy, Naaman Forest High School

D M Tiejen, GISD ESL Specialist


Objective: Moodle, Phase 1-"Just Getting Our Heads Around It"
Purpose: For all members of Literatetech to understand Moodle, discuss its pros and cons, and consider its implications for student-centered instruction and addressing the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) in content-area classes. Through this process we need to create a shared vision and decide if Moodle is the appropriate tool to deliver course-content to our teachers and students. After Phase 1 is complete, we will share the best way to proceed with installing Moodle or another courseware tool.
From Moodle.org
"Moodle is an Open Source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students."
Action Items for Phase 1 (Deadline: February, 13 2010):
  1. Discovery (15 to 30 minutes): All members need to read the Moodle Wikipedia article and the "About Moodle" section of moodle.org This will help you learn about Moodle.
  2. Discussion (15 to 30 minutes): After reading, go to the discussion area of this page and post your thoughts on using Moodle for student-centered instruction and addressing the ELPS in content classes. The community needs to know if you think this tool will work to address these issues.
  3. Research (15 to 30 minutes): Each member needs to research (via the internet or traditional methods) the effectiveness of Moodle and post findings on the discussion page. Why reinvent the wheel? If someone is using Moodle, let's see how and what they do.
  4. Demo (30 minutes to One Hour): View the Moodle demo on Romeo and Juliet (see red arrow below in the screen shot). Be sure to read how to log in. View the site as an Admin, Teacher, and Student. Report your thoughts in the discussion area. It is important to see Moodle through the eyes of those who will be using it.

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